Automatic circular-knitting machine.



No.'739,9'75. ,PATBNTBD SEPT. 29, 1-903.

I J.E.BARD,. AUTOMATIC CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. APPLIUATIOK FILED QO'IJ, 1902- F0 IODEL. 7 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N 739,975: I PATENTBD SEPT. 29, 1903.

, J. F. BARD'. AUTOMATIC CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE. APPLICATION {ILED 00T'.4. 1902. H0 MODEL. 5 7 SHEETS-SHEET. 2.

, 3 .w w Ml x w W a w 1- w v .iml q u r/w/fiw w W Q Q fix g.

- No. 739,975. PATENTED SEPT. 29, 1903 Y J'. F. BARB.-

AUTOMATIC CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION IILBD 00124. 1002.

10 MODEL. 7 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

UNITED STATES" iatented September 29, 1903 PATE T Orr-Ice.

AUTOMATIC CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 739,975, dated September 29, 1903.

Application filed October 4, 1902. Serial No. 125,858. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES FRAZIER BARD, a

citizen of the'United States, residing at the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Circula r-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to a circularknitting machine preferably of the type illustrated and described in Letters Patent No.

536,616, granted to Emil J. Franck under date of April 2, 1895; and in such connection it relates to the construction and arrangement of certain parts of themachine whereby there may be knit upon the machine a tubular fabric having certain portions widened or narrowed in diameter by the increaseor decrease of the number of loops formed in the circular courses, the narrowing or widening being effected without transfer of thefabric and upon a needlecylinder the" diameter of which remains unchanged.

In machines of the automatic circular type the general operation of the'machine results in the production of aftubular webbing of uniform diameter throughout, and to this webbing by means of heel-and-toe-forming mechanism there are added the heel-and-t'oe sacs whenthe machine'is designed to produce a seamless stocking. In the production of such stockings, the webbing or'leg portion being, as aforesaid, of uniform diameter, it is necessary after the stocking is knit to press or board it, so that the leg portion may be expanded or shaped at certain points to more neatly fit the calf of the leg of the user. In use, however, these stockings so formed and pressed speedily become shapeless, especially after being washed, and the expansion or.

shaping of the tubularfabric has also been found to seriously impair the durability or portion of the stocking to the webbing, and

thereafter the flat webbing and flat foot portions are sewed up upona sewing-machine to form the stocking. These three distinct operations upon stockings formed on flat or been knit upon a needle-cylinder of a certain diameter and thencut, flattened slightly, and transferred to a needle-cylinder of larger diameter containing more needles and the tubular webbing completed. This is described in Letters Patent No. 422,886, dated March 4, 1890." This attempt, however, requires the use of two machines and the additional labor and expense of transferring the webbing from the first needle-cylinder to the second.

The object of my present invention is to so reorganize and reconstruct a circular-knitting machine that the same may be adapted for knitting a tubular webbing of varying diameters without changing the diameter of the needle-cylinder and without transfer or break in the continuity of the operation of knitting. To accomplish this object, the machine is provided, first, with a needle-cylinder having along its perimeter a series of regular grooves for the reception and operation of the regular needles, (as well as the heel-andtoe-fashioning needles when stockings are to be knit,) and along aportion of its perimeter a series of special grooves alternating with the regular grooves and arranged for the reception of the needles used in reduciu g or increasing the diameter of the tubular fabric,

said special grooves and adjacent regular grooves being preferably narrower and more closely disposed than-the regular grooves t0 machine is provided with mechanism controlling the operation of thespecial needles, so that said needles may be brought into the trol the depression of said jacks.

- needle.

circle of needles to receive meshes when required, and, third, the machine is provided with means adjacent to the special needles whereby the length of the stitch or mesh to be formed may be shortened when special needles are withdrawn or lengthened when said needles are brought into operation, whereby the regularity or gage of the course of meshes may be maintained and tightening or loosening of the fabric avoided at the points where the diameter of the tube is to be increased or decreased.

The nature and scope of my invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the needle-cylinder, showing the arrangement of the grooves for the reception of the groups of regular and regular and special needles. Fig. 2 is a detail view illustrating the position of the sinker-bars or mesh-gaging device with relation to the regular needles and to the alternate regular and special needles when said special needles are withdrawn from operative position. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but illustrating the position of the sinker-bars when the special needles are thrown into operative position. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of such parts of a circular-knitting machine as are necessaryto show the embodiment of my invention. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail view enlarged, illustrating the mechanism controlling the special needles. Fig 7 is a section taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6, but with the needles removed. Fig. 8 is a detail view of the patternchain controlling the special-needle-operating mechanism. Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view of the drum having the internal cam for raising the jacks, which when elevated withdraw the special needles from operative position. Figs. 10, 11, and 12 are enlarged detail views illustrating the construction and arran gement of the two sector-plates which con- Figs. 13 and 14 are respectively plan and vertical sectional views illustrating the regular cam for operating the usual sinker-bars and auxiliary cam for operating the special sinker-bars, Fig. 14 being a section on the line 14 14 of Fig. 13. Figs. 15 and 16 are side elevational views, respectively, of a sinker-bar used with a special needle and a sinker-bar used with a regular Fig. 17 is a side elevational view of a stocking adapted to be knit upon the machine, and Fig. 18 is a detail view enlarged of the fabric where the widening of the tube occurs.

Referring to the drawings, it will be readily understood that main portions of the machine are arranged and operate in substantially the manner illustrated and described in the LettersPatent No. 536,616, hereinabove referred to. Some of these parts have been omitted for the purpose of more clearly illustrating the present invention. Thus, for instance, the strippers or carriages controlling the operation of the fashioning-needles during the formation of the heel and toe portions, as well as the auxiliary mechanism for said strippers, have not been illustrated, since the same are shown and fully described in the said patent No. 536,616. Of the remaining parts which are illustrated in the present drawings it will be observed that the needle-cylinder a is provided on its periphery with longitudinally-arranged grooves, but differs, as hereinafter morefullydescribed,fr0mtheordinaryneedlecylinder. In the present machine two needlecarriers d and d are used and operate in the same manner as in the Franck patent. The regular sinkerbars e, the sinkerbar bed e, and web-holders e and beard-closing ring 6 are arranged to operate in the usual wellknown manner.

1n reconstructing the machine so as to adapt it for the knitting of tubular work, wherein the diameter of the tube may be either increased or decreased, the needle-cylinder a is provided on the major portion of its periphery with the longitudinalgrooves a, as ordinarily arranged, and in these grooves a the regular needles a are adapted to reciprocate in the ordinary manner. The remaining portion of the periphery of the cylinder at is, however, provided with special grooves a more closely grouped than the grooves a, and in these special grooves 0. as clearly illustrated in Figs 2 and 3, are placed alternate regular needles a and special needles a. Inasmuch as these special needles (1, may be either withdrawn from or included in the circle of regular needles, as hereinafter more fully explained, it follows that if these nee-' sated for either by an increased or decreased tightness of the thread, While the course of loops is on the needles of the cylinder. When, however, the loops fall from the needles, the thread will expand or contract to adjust the tension or gage of the loops equally, and this would therefore result simply in a web of uniform diameter from end to end. In my present invention, therefore, there is provided not only the special needles a and means for bringing them into or out of the circle of regular needles, but also a means for regulating the feed of the thread to the needles, so that when the special needles a are thrown into the circle there will be sufficient additional -pivoted intermediate of its ends, as at f to 35 so that its upper end b normally rests below the spring-bit of the needle or when said needle! is lowered by the carrier cZ-.- This jack 1), however, is arranged so that at certain intervals it may be elevated until its head or. upper end b mayengage the spring-bit and press said bit out of engagement with the carrier d. The two positions of ,thejack hare clearly illustrated indotted and full lines in Fig. 6. When, therefore, the jack 1) is in its lowermost position, the bit of the needle a springs into locking engagement" with the needle-carrier d, and the needle'a will thereforecome into action. When, however, the

jack 1 is elevated, it s head b presses the bit of the needle a but of the carrier d,'and the needle or will, be withdrawn from the active circle of needles. All-the jacks b may be simultaneously elevated to withdraw all the needles a? from theactive circle'of needles, by means of the following mechanism: Below the bottom of the jacks 1) extends a semicircular plate f, carriedby an arm f,

a-fixed part of the machine, The free end of the arm f carries a projection or roller f which under tension of a spring' f? enters a cam-groove f formed internally of the camdrum f which inthe ordinary machine carries on its exterior the cam-grooves necessary for operating the',fashioning-needles duringthe operation of knitting the toe and heel sacs of a stocking. The internal cam-groove f is, so shaped and arranged that at the start of the stocking (when the stocking is to be knit from the toe upward) the semicircular plate f is elevated by the arm f and the jacks b are therefore elevated to bring all the needles of out of action. As the drum fi continues to revolve the semicircular plate f is depressed, leaving the jacks 1) free to drop by gravity. In increasing the diameter of the tubular webbing it is found, desirable to bring the needles a into action in successive pairs. and not singly or all at once. For this purpose each jack 1) has a nose 1'1 intermediate,

ofits ends, and underthe noses b of the jacks I), immediately. after said jacks b have been,

' i raised by the semicircular plate f, two semicircularplates g and g are adapted to slide tohold the jacks b upward when the 'plate'f has been withdrawn. Initially the two plates 9 and g are brought together so that their inner supporting edges meet by means of the.

studs g3, depending from the strippers or carriages, (not shown,.-) which in thestocking.

machine are used to fashion the heel and toe and g is as follows: Upon the shaft h, whichoperates the drum f, is located a sprocketwheel h, operating a pattern-chainh having,

according to a predetermined pattern, a series 'of triangular buttons or projections h As the pattern chain; 71 revolves, a button 'h strikes against a triangular pin h formed 'onone end of a rock-arm it and shifts-that end of the rock-arm from left to right. The other end of said rock-arm h5 is connected by -a link h? to one end of a bell-crank lever 717,

the other end of which lever 72, being con-' n'ected to an arm 72,", disposed transversely j'across the machine adjacent to the'plates g and g. This arm h is provided with pins hi, engaging slots h in bracket pieces orsup- :ports h, secured to' a fixed part of;the machine. The movement of the rockarm h, 'carried by the pattern -chain 71 causes the link h to shift from right to left and the bell-crank lever 77/7 to draw the arm 'h across 'the machine. As the arm h works in the -'slots 71 it is first'forced to the left near the plates g and g and then drawn acrossthe machine. The arm h has two oppositelyarranged springpawls 7a and k and is re- {turned to its normal position-by a spring h.

';The two plates 9 and g overlapat their outer ends, and the perimeters of these outer ends are notched or toothed, as at 9 When the arm h? has been shifted inward, as before described, toward the plates 9 and g, one of the-pawls 70 will strike'against a tooth of the lower plate g and will shift that plateg:a distance regulated bythe shifting of the arm ih In this movement of the arm h the other pawl, 70, slides freely overtheteethof the other plate, 9.

turns to its original position under tension of the springh the second pawl is will engage the teeth of the upper plate g and shift that plate in a direction opposite to that in which the plate g has previously 'moved. These movements of the plates g'and g separate their inner supporting edges sufficiently to permit two jacksb to drop in their grooves under the influence of gravityi The next operation of the arm h will in a similar manner permit the next two jacks to drop, and the operation continues until all the jacks b have dropped in pairs from the center of the special group of grooves to the ends of'said 3 group. This dropping of the jacks b in pairs results, as hereinbefore described, in bringing the special needles 0. in pairs into action. The mechanism for regulating the tension orgage of the meshes or loops formed by the circle including more or less needles consists, preferably, of the following; In the .radial slots of the sinker-bar bed 6, adjacent to the "When now the arm h regroup of regular needles a are arranged the sinker-bars e, of the usual form or shape and operated in the usual manner by the sinkercam e on the sinker-head e Adjacent to the other group containing the regular needles a alternating with the special needles a are arranged sinker-bars m, of form or shape differing from the sinker-bars e. The main differences in form or shape are that the bits on of the sinker-bars m are higher and more widely separated than the bits of the sinker-bars e. On the sinker-head e is arranged, in addition to the sinker-cam e, an additional sinker-cam m shaped to enter the special bits of the sinker-bars m, but not proj ecting downward far enough to enter between the bits of the regular sinker-bars 6. This additional cam m depends from a bracket or block m arranged to slide radially in the sinker-head e Mechanism for sliding the cam m is not shown, but is well known in the art, a similar mechanism being illustrated in the Letters Patent No. 656,538, granted to Emil J. Franck, under date of August 21, 1900. In the present use of the cam m the mechanism for shifting the same should be arranged so that when all the needles a are put into action the cam m is shifted inward to its fullest extent, so that in the revolution of the head 6 the extra or special sinker-bars m will be shifted inward toward the alternate special needles or and regular needles a a greater distance than when the cam on is withdrawn and allthe needles a are Withdrawn from action, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. Again, the sinker-bars m are shifted inward toward the group of alternate special and regular needles a greater distance when all the needles (5 are in action than are the regular sinkers 0, adjacent to the group of regular needles (L as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3.

In Figs. 17 and 18 is illustrated the character of fabric knit upon the machine when said machine is arranged to knit seamless stockings. From these figures, as well as from the description of the machine, it will be understood that in the formation of the stocking the toe A, foot B, heel D, and the instep portion E are first knit in the usual manner upon the circle of regular needles a with the special needles a wholly withdrawn from action. Two special needles a are then thrown into action and several courses knit upon the circle of needles increased by said two special needles. The needles 0, are brought successively into action in pairs until all the needles a are in the circle, when the leg portion F of the stocking is knit. At the successive points where extra needles of are introduced it will be found that a larger course of meshes are joined to a smaller course, thus leaving slight openings 1). In the finished stocking, however, these openings are so minute as to be scarcely perceptible. In the drawings the machine has been illustrated as organized to knit first a tube of smaller diameter and thereafter a tube of larger diameter, the spe cial mechanism being designed to introduce the special needles or in pairs after the needles a have all been withdrawn.

Having thus described the nature and object of my present invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In a circular-knitting machine, a needlecylinder combined with a circleof active needles reciprocating in said cylinder, means for in creasing or decreasing the number of active needles in said cylinder, and means for increasing or decreasing the feed of yarn to said needles,whereby a tube of varying diameters may be knit without increasing or decreasing the diameter of the needle-cylinder.

. 2. In a circular-knitting machine, aneedlecylinder provided along the main portion of its periphery with regular grooves for the reception of regular needles and along the remaining portion of its periphery with special grooves more closely grouped than the regular grooves and arranged for the reception of alternate regular and special needles.

3. In a circular-knittin g machine, a needlecylinder provided along the main portion of its periphery with regular grooves and along the remaining portion of its periphery with special grooves more closely grouped than said regular grooves in combination with a series of regular needles arranged to reciprocate in the regular grooves, a series of alternate regular and special needles arranged to reciprocate in the special grooves, and means for raising or lowering the special needles in their grooves independently of the reciprocation of the alternate regular needles, whereby said special needles may be thrown into or out of action.

4. In a circular-knitting machine, a needlecylinder, a series of regular needles arranged to reciprocate in grooves provided in the main portion of the periphery of said needle-cylinder, a series of special needles arranged to reciprocate with alternate regular needles in grooves provided in the remaining portion of said needle-cylinder, 'a yarn-feed arranged to revolve around the circle of regular and alternate special and regular needles, means for bringing the special needles into or out of action, and means for increasing or decreasing the feed of yarn to the needles as the special needles are brought into or out of action.

5. In a circular-knitting machine, a needlecylinder, a series of regular needles arranged to reciprocate in grooves provided in the main portion of the periphery of said needle-cylinder, a series of special needles alternating with regular needles arranged to reciprocate in grooves provided in the remaining portion of the needle-cylinder, and a needle-carrier to which the special needles are adapted to be secured, in combination with a jack arranged to reciprocate in the groove of each special needle, and means for raising or lowering said jack whereby the special needle may be released or locked to said needle-carrier.

-6. In a circular-knitting machine, a needlecylinder, a series of regular needles, a series of special needlesarranged to reciprocate in grooves formed in a portion of the periphery of said-cylinder, a needle-carrier to which said special needlesare adapted to be secured, a

jack for each special: needle and arranged to control the release of said needle from the carrier, in combination with a yarn-feed arranged to revolve around the special needles and regular needles, and means for-increasing or-decreasing the feed of yarn when the yarn -feed isrevolving-around the specialneedles.

7. In a circular-knitting machine, a sinkerbar bed, a needle-cylinder provided with regular grooves along the main portion of its periphery and special grooves more closely grouped along the remaining portion of its periphery, a series of regular needles arranged to reciprocatein said regular grooves, a series of regular sinker-bars arranged to slide in the sinker-bar bed toward or away from the regular needles, and a cam arranged to operate said regular sinker-bars,'in combination with a series of specialsinker-bars arranged to slide in-the sinker-bar bed toward or away from the special needles,-a spec ial cam ar-- ranged to operate saidspecial sinker -bars, independently of the regular sinker-bars, and means-for-adjusting the-throw of said special cam.

' 8. In a circular-knitting machine, a single circle of active needles, a cylinder whereon said needles areadapted to reciprocate,-a single yarn-feed for saidneedles, means for increasing or decreasing the number of active needles in the circle without increasing or decreasing the diameter of the needle-cylinder, andmeans for increasing or decreasing the feed of yarn from the yarn-feed to said needles feeding yarn uniformly to the needles of the,

entire circle and means for increasing or decreasing the feed of yarn to .thecircle when the number of active needles in the sections adapted to contain the greater number of needles is increased or decreased.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES FRAZIER BARD.

WVitnesses:

J. WALTER DOUGLASS, THOMAS M. SMITH. 

